Overhead electric railway.



F. M. PREDERICK. OVERHEAD ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

v APPLIGTION FILED NOV. 4,1907. v I 994,525. PatentedwNoV. 24, 1908.

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Eatented Nov. 24, 1908.

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N1 i prop-alliesy the FRANCIS M. FREDERLCK,

T. MOORMANN, ONE-ElGHTl-l TO CHARLES E. POTH, ONE-ElGll'lH TO THOMAS B. PUTE,

AND ONE-EGHTH TO FRANK J. VOLLMER, OF ST. LOUlS, MISSOURI.

' OVERHEAD ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

No. lf. Specification of Lettere Patent. Patented Nov. 24, 1998.

Application filed November 0.-, 1967. Serial lic. $0,726.

To ell-whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FuANoIs M. Fannnincir, a citizen of the United States, and resident of St. Louis, Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in lo a part hereof.

My invention relates to an overhead-,electric railway, my object being to arrange a single overhead track on suitable supports, and to suspend cars from said track, and to l5 provide ineens whereby thecars are moved and operated beneath the rail.

To the above'purposes, iny invention consists in certain novel :features of construction and arrangement of parts, which will be 2o hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed'` out in the claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a side elevation of a car and a portion of the rail of the improved over- `bead railway; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the parts seen in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a plan view of one of the cars of my improved railway; fl is an enlarged sect-ion taken through the-overhead rail, and showing one of the 3o hangers which supports'tbe motor utilized driving the railway car; Fig. 5 is an elem-tion of the parts seen in Flg. 4.

Rei'erring by numerals to the accompanying drawings :-1 designates the overhead rail oi" my improved railway, which is supported in any suitable manner convenient distance above the ground, said rail being similar to an ordinary T-.rail, but considerably heavier, and provided on one side of and on the opposite side with rack teet 3. Arranged on the `under side of this rail, and insulated thereifroni in any suit-able manner, is a conductor which carries the electric current utilized cars oi? the railway.

Arranged to travel on top of the rail 1 is pair of wheels 5, on one edge of each of`v which is 'formed a tread', which travels on the rail immediately adjacent the lange 2,

and on theopposite edge oi' the wheel is a series o-gear teeth which form a pinion 7, and winch engages with .the fach teeth .Fixed in' the centers of the wheels 5 .are shafts and mounted on end oir,

each shaft' is a sprocket wheel 9. Journaled on the shafts 8 are hanvers 10, which extend a suitable distance below the rail 1, and arranged for operation in the lower ends of said hangers areelectric motors 11. llixed on the ends' of the motor shafts are sprocket wheels 12, and connecting the corresponding pairs of sprocket wheels 9 and l2 are the sprocket chains 13. Rigidly xed to the lower portions of the hangers 10 are the ends oi' a longitudinally disposed bar 14; and arranged for operation thereon is a trolley pole 15, proyided'at its upper end with the usual trolley wheel 16, which rides against the conductor Il. Rigidly fixed to the upper ends ofthe hangers 10 are horizontally disposed brackets 17, and lined to and connecting said brackets is a longitudinallydispcsed bar 18. Formed on or iixed to each bracket 17 is -a 4pair of ears 19, and iulcruined between these pairs of ears 19 are levers 20,'the lower ends of which are adapted to act as brakes and bear upon the surfaces of the wheels 5 between the treads 6 and gear wheels 7. Fired to the center of the bar 18 is a brake cylinder 21, and operating therein is a pair of pistons 22, the piston rods 23 of which extend through the ends of the cylinder, and being pivotally connected to the upper ends of the levers 20. F luid ressure is delivered to the ends of the cylinder 21 by means of branch pipes 24 leading from a single supply pipe ,25.

Located on the bar 14, adjacent its ends, are pulleys 26, around whiclrpass cables 27, vwhich support a car 28. rthe cables 27 are manipulated so as to raise andA lower `the carzby certain mechanism lnade the subject matter or" another specification filed by me, oi' even date, Serial No. 400,727.

Pivotally connected to the lower ends of the hangers 10 are rods 28, to the lower ends of which are hinged the upper ends of rods ,29, the lower ends of said latter rods being pivotally connected to the top of the cer body adjacent its ends; and these rods, which are cylindrically connected to the motors 11,r

provide means for conveying the current to -the controller located on the car platform.

The means whereby the car is prevented from swinoiing laterally during transit and while being raised and lowered comprises the cylinders 30 hinged to the top of the car bodyin such a manner as to swing vertically,

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in which cylinders are arranged for operation pistons provided with piston rods 31, the upper ends of which latter are connected to the bar 14 in such a manner as to swing vertically relative thereto.

Connected to the lower end of the pipe 25 by a:hinged joint is a pipe 32, and connected to the lower end of said pipe 32 by a hinged joint ,is a second pipe 33, the lower end of which is connected by a lhinged joint to a pipe 34, which leads downward through the side of the car and is extendedl to an ordinary brake controllin v valve {SY-located in the cab, or on the plat orm of the car.

35 designates a suitable storage tank for fluid pressure, and leading therefrom to the brake valve 37 is a pipe 36, which arrangement provides for the delivery of fluid pressure to the ends of the cylinder 21 when it is desired to set the brakes, which operation is accomplished by a proper manipulation of the brake valve.

When my improved railway is in operation, the car is elevated Vto the position as seen in Fig. l, and the electric current from the conductor 4 passes in the usual manner through the trolley 15, and from thence the current travels through suitable conductors to a controller located in the cab, or on' the front end of the car, and from thence the current is delivered through suitable conductors and the rods 28 and 29 to the motor 11. When these motors are in operation, the rotary motion of the shaft is transmitted to the shafts 8 by means of the sprocket lchains 13, and the wheels 5 are rotated. As said wheels rotate, the gear wheels or pinions 7 mesh with the rack 3; and, as a result of this engagement, the wheels will be driven forward over the rail 1 in the manner desired.

To set the brakes, the engineenor motorman operates the brake valve 37 to permit fluid pressure from the tank 35 to pass into the'pipe 34k, and said fluid pressure passes through the pipes 33, 32, 25, and 24 into the ends of the cylinder 2l; and as the pistons 22 in said cylinder are -forced toward one another, the lower ends of the levers 2O will vbe elevated and brought into frictional engagement with the surfaces ol? the wheels 5; and, as a result, said wheels are prevented from further rotation.

An overhead rail .vay ot my improved cony struction can be used wherever desired, although 1t is panticularly adapted for use 1u the streets oli cities which are normally crowded with vehicles and pedestrians, as by eliminate-,l5 and asthcre are only two wheels' utilized upon the track, the noise and vibration incident to the travel of a car is greatly reduced.

'I claim 1. An overhead electric railway, comprising an elevated track rail, a truck arranged for operation lon the rail, hangers depending from the truck, motors arranged for operation in the hangers and arranged to drive the wheels of said hangers, and a car suspended from the hangers.

2. An overhead electric railway, comprising an elevated track rail, a truck arranged for operation on the rail, motors arranged for opera-tion in the truck and arranged to drive the wheels of said truck, a car suspended from the truck, and means whereby the car is prevented from swinging laterally p relatively to the hangers while in operation.

3. The herein described overhead electric railway, comprising an elevated track rail in the top of one side of which is formed a continuous series of rack teeth, a pair of wheels arranged for operation on the tread portion of the rail, teeth formed on said wheels which engage with the rack teeth, hangers carried by the wheels, and a car suspended from the hangers.

4. The herein described overhead electric railway, comprising an elevated track rail in the top cf one side of which is formed a continuous series of rack teeth., a pair of wheels arranged for operation on the tread portion of the rail, teeth formed on sald wheels which engage with the rack teeth, hangers carried by the wheels, motors carried by the hangers, driving connections from the motors to the wheels, .and a car suspended Jfrom the hangers;

5. The herein described overhead electric railway, comprising an elevated track rail in which is -ormed a continuous series of rack teeth, a pair of wheels arranged for operation on. the rail, teeth formed on said wheels which engage with the rack teeth, hangers carried by the wheels, motors carried bythe hangers, driving connections from the motors to the wheels, a car suspended from the hangers, andconnections between the car and the hangers for preventing the car from swinging laterally while in operation.

6. The herein described overhead electric railway, comprising an elevated track rail in which is formed a continuous series of rack teeth, a pair otl wheels arranged for operation on the rail, teeth formed on said wheels which engage with the rack teeth, brakes arranged to ci'igage the peripheries of -the wheels. rwans whereby said brakes are oper-- ated, hangers carried by the wheels, and a car suspended 'troni the hangers.

T. The hcrciu described overhead electric railway, comprising au elevated track rail in which is formed :i continuous series of rack tcctli, a pair ol wheels arranged for operavided With a tread surface,

tion on the rail, teeth formed -on'said Wheels which .engage with the rack teeth, brakes arranged- .to engage the peripheries of the Wheels, nieansjvhereby said brakes are operated, hangers carried by the Wheels, motors carried by the? hangers, driving connections from the motors toJ the Wheels, a ear sus pended from the hangers, and connections between the car and the hangers for preventing the car from swinging laterally while in operation.

8. In an overhead electric railway, an elevated track rail. the ball of which is proand there being a series of rack teetlrfornied integral with the top of the ball of the rail and to one side ot the tread surface thereof.

9. In an overhead electric railway, an ele-l vatedtrack rail, the ball of Which'is provided With a tread surface, there being a seriesl of rack teeth formed integral with the top 'ofthe ball o the rail and to one side of thlfel'itread surface thereof, and a vertically disposed flange formed integral With the ball of 'the rail onthe side opposite from the rack teeth.

jl-name to tl;

:two subscribnig Witnesses.

10. In an overhead electric railway, an elevated track rail, the ball of which is pro- `vided with, a tread surface, there being a series of rack teeth formed integral With the top .of the ball of the rail and to one 4side of v hangers and arranged to drive the Wheels of the truck, a car suspended from the truck and adapted to be moved vertically relative said truck, and telescoping connections between the truck and the top of the car for preventing the car from swinging laterally relatively to the hangers While in operation.

In testinr' whereof, I have signed my specification, in presence of FRANCIS M. Witnesses M. P. SMITH, LONGAN.

FREDERICK. 

